Navigating your NDIS Journey

How does the NDIS work and how can I navigate through?

Resources

ACCC website resources and videos for consumers

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has developed some resources for people with disability and their families to help them protect their rights as consumers when purchasing disability services. There are fact sheets, videos and information in Easy English.

Advocacy for Inclusion

Carers Australia

Carers Australia has developed lots of information and resources to help families and carers find their way through the NDIS. There are videos, fact sheets and information booklets. There is also information about their peer project.

Disability Loop

Disability Loop is a website dedicated to all things NDIS. The website focuses on explaining everything about the NDIS in clear and simple language, and brings resources from all around the internet to the one spot. Disability Loop is run by the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations.

The Growing Space – management options chart

The Growing Space is a small organisation in South Australia helping people find their way through the NDIS. They have developed a handy chart to explain the different ways funds can be managed.

Mental Health Australia and Carers Australia

Mental Health Australia and Carers Australia have developed a pair of resources for carers of people with mental illness: a Guide for Mental Health Carers on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and a Mental Health Carer Checklist to prepare for NDIS assessment and planning meetings.

My Choice Matters

My Choice Matters is a website for all people with disability and their families, but in particular has a lot of information and resources which people with an intellectual disability might find helpful. It has been developed to help people learn more about the NDIS and how get more choice, voice and control over their lives.

PHN – NDIS Support Calculator

NDIS Support Calculator is a user-friendly online tool to help you work out how much NDIS supports will cost over 12 months. You calculate by choosing a support category, then line item, then hours per week. It calculates a total and can make a PDF to print or save. The pricing is based on the 2018/2019 VIC/NSW/QLD/TAS Price Guide for NDIS service providers, so keep in mind that the results will be a bit different for people from other areas.

Peer Connect

Peer Connect is a website for people with disability and their families to learn more about peer support. There is also useful information about the NDIS.

QDN have also created a 60-page booklet for your GP to help them help you with your NDIS paperwork.

Reimagine

Reimagine today is a website for people with psychosocial disability and their families to help them find their way through the NDIS. It includes a pre-planning booklet. It was co-designed with people with psychosocial disability and their support networks.

Resources for Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people

If you have a disability and you are from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander background, the NSW government provides these fact sheets that might be helpful.

Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC)

Women with Disabilities Victoria

Women with Disabilities Victoria have two short videos You Can Ask That in which two women talk about their experience with the NDIS and how to get the most out of it.

Youth Disability Advocacy Service (YDAS)

YDAS have a few short videos in which young people talk about their experience of the NDIS, as well as a great infographic on how to join the NDIS, helpful hints for your planning meeting, and four fact sheets to help you make sense of the different options you have for managing your NDIS plan.

NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission is a new system being rolled out across Australia starting in NSW and SA in July 2018. It is designed to make sure NDIS Participants are safe, and providers follow rules for delivering good quality services. The Commission’s website has a series of resources including fact sheets in Easy English and languages other than English. It also has links to policies, legislation, information sessions, and draft documents for consultation.

NDIS website

The NDIS website has lots of information on it – but it can be a bit hard to find. So we have listed some ones we have found helpful here.

NDIS website: Auslan videos

NDIS website: Easy English resources

The NDIS has developed quite a lot of information in Easy English. The previous link has all the resources in the one spot. You can often also find information in Easy English on subject pages on the NDIS website – but it can be a bit hit and miss.

NDIS website: How to use the Myplace portal

The Myplace portal is the secure website for NDIS participants to view their plan and manage their supports. The NDIS have developed a guide to help people use the portal.

NDIS website: NDIS Glossary

The NDIA have an NDIS glossary (which is a word list with descriptions) on their website, to help you understand what all the different terms mean. They also have an Easy English version.

NDIS website: NDIS Q&A

Each week the NDIA answers questions submitted to them during the week. They post the answers each Friday in the news section on the NDIS website. They then summarise all the previous answers on the Q&A page.

NDIS website: Material in other languages

The NDIS has translated important information about the NDIS into a number of languages. Including Arabic, Auslan, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Filipino (Tagalog), French, Greek, Hindi, Italian, Macedonian, Samoan, and Vietnamese.

NDIS website: Translator and interpreter services

People from culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds may need help from a translator or an interpreter to find their way through the NDIS.

We recently posted about the Joint Standing Committee on the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) quietly releasing their report on assistive technology for NDIS participants in December last year. But that was not the only report they released. On the Friday before Christmas, they released another really important report – looking at how IT for the NDIS was working.